Page 428 of Scars of Fate

Not quickly.

Not carefully.

His mouth moved against mine with eight years of grief, rage, and love.

Then he pulled away.

“I love you.”

My heart stopped.

He had said it before.

Years ago.

In bed.

At airports.

On the morning we married.

But never like this.

Never when both of us finally understood what those words required.

“I love you too.”

A gunshot echoed from the staircase.

Lucas turned and ran.

I watched him disappear into the darkness.

The hidden door began to close.

“Lucas!”

“It’s automatic,” Minser said.

I lunged toward the opening.

Too late.

The wall sealed.

I pressed the original tag against the sword symbol.

Nothing happened.

The control panel had gone dark.

“Open it.”

“I can’t.”

I aimed Lucas’s gun at Minser.

“Open the door.”